The annual resurrection had begun; the pulse of Nature quickened, rose,
throbbed under the vernal summons; pale, tender grass-blades peeped
above the mould, houstonias lifted their blue disks to the March sun,
and while the world of birds commenced their preludes where silky young
leaves shyly fluttered, earth and sky were wrapped in that silvery haze
with which coy Springtime half veils her radiant face. The vivid
verdure of wheat and oat fields, the cooler aqua marina of long
stretches of rye, served as mere groundwork for displaying in bold
relief the snowy tufts of plum, the creamy clusters of pear, and the
glowing pink of peach orchards that clothed the hillsides, and brimmed
the valleys with fragrant prophecies of fruitful plenty.
Dimmed by distance to fine lines of steel, wavered the flocks of wild
geese flying from steaming bayous to icy lakes in the far North, and
now and then as the ranks dipped, a white flash lit the vignettes
traced against the misty, pearl-gray sky.
Spring sunshine had kissed the lips of death, and universal life sprang
palpitating to begin anew the appointed yearly cycle; yet amid the
flush and stir of mother earth, there lay hopelessly still and cold
some human hopes, which no divine "Come forth" would ever revivify.
Into the face of Leo Gordon had crept that strange and indescribable
change, which is analogous to the peculiar aspect of the clear heavens
when dark clouds just faintly rim the horizon, below which they heap
their sombre, sullen masses, projecting upward weird shadows.
Apparently the sun of prosperity burned in the zenith and gilded her
path with happiness, but analyzed by the prism of her consciousness
the brightness faded, the colors paled, and grim menace crossed all,
like the dark lines of Fraunhofer. To be chosen, loved, wooed and won
exclusively for herself, irrespective of all extraneous appurtenances
and advantages, is the supreme hope innate in every woman, and the
dread that her wealth might invest her with charms not intrinsic, had
made Leo unusually distrustful of the motives of her numerous suitors.
That Leighton Douglass loved the woman, not the heiress, she knew
beyond the possibility of cavil or doubt, and when, after mature
deliberation, she promised her hand to Mr. Dunbar, she had felt equally
sure that no mercenary consideration biased his choice or inspired his
professions of attachment.
For a nature so proudly poised, so averse to all impulsive
manifestations of emotion, her affections were surprisingly warm and
clinging, and she loved him with all the depth and fervor of her
tender, generous heart; hence the slow torture of her humiliation in
the hour of disenchantment. To women who love is given a sixth sense, a
subtile instinct whereby, as in an occult alembic, they discern the
poison that steals into their wine of joy; so Leo was not long in
ignorance that her coveted kingdom belonged by right of conquest to
another, and that she reigned only nominally and by courtesy.
The evil we most abhor generally espies us afar off, chases tirelessly,
crouches at our feet, grimacing triumphantly at our impotence to escape
its loathsome clutches; and Leo's pride bled sorely in the realization
that she had sold her hand and heart for base counterfeit equivalents.
In a crisis of keen disappointment, only very noble natures can remain
strictly just, yet in arraigning her lover for disloyalty, this
sorrowing woman abstained from casting all the blame upon him. He had
not intentionally deceived her, had not deliberately betrayed her
trust; he was the unwilling victim of an inexplicable fascination
against which she felt assured he had struggled sullenly and
persistently; and which, in destroying the beautiful edifice of their
mutual hopes, offered him nothing but humiliation in exchange.
Standing to-day beside the pyramid of scarlet geraniums, and velvety,
gold-powdered begonias in the centre of the octagonal room, where the
warm Spring sun shone down through the dome, falling aslant on the
great snowy owl and the rose-colored cockatoo smoothing their plumes on
the top of the glittering brass cages--Leo contrasted the luxurious and
elegant details of her lovely home with the grim and bleak cell where,
in shame and ignominy, dwelt the young stranger who had stolen her
throne. A beggar by the road-side had filched from the queen in her
palace, her crown and sceptre, and the pomp and splendor of royal
surroundings only mocked and emphasized an empty sham. Merely a trifle
paler than usual, and somewhat heavy-eyed from acquaintance with
midnight vigils, she proudly bore her new burden of grief with her
wonted easy grace; but the pretty mouth was compressed into harder,
narrower lines, and the delicate nose dilated in a haughtier curve.
Sooner or later we all learn the wisdom of the unwelcome admonition:
"Fortune sells what we believe she gives."
For two months Leo's relations with Mr. Dunbar had been distinctly
strained, and while both carefully avoided any verbal attempt at
explanation, her manner had grown more distant, his more scrupulously
courteous, but pre-occupied, guarded and cold. Knowing that abdication
was inevitable, she slowly revolved the best method of release, which
promised the least sacrifice of womanly dignity, and the greatest
economy of unpleasantness on the part of her betrothed.
During the week of the trial, she had seen him but twice, and
immediately after he had been summoned to attend some suit in New
Orleans, and had hurriedly bidden her adieu in the presence of others.
With punctilious regularity he wrote studiedly polished, graceful yet
merely friendly letters, and like ice morsels they slowly widened the
glacier creeping between the two.
To her council she admitted only her bruised pride, her bleeding heart,
her relentless incorruptible conscience; and over the conclusion, she
shed no tears, made no moan, allowed no margin for pity. Early on that
Spring morning, she had received a glowing sheaf of La France and
Duchess de Brabant roses, accompanied by a brief note announcing Mr.
Dunbar's return, and requesting an interview at noon. The tone of her
reply was markedly cordial, and after offering congratulations upon
his birthday, she begged his acceptance of a souvenir made for the
occasion by her own hands, a dainty "bit of embroidery which she
flattered herself, he would value for the sake of the donor."
Who doubts that Vashti made a most elaborate toilette, on that day of
humiliation, when discarded and discrowned she trailed her royal robes
for the last time across the marble courts of Shushan, going forth to
make room for Queen Esther? Amid the loops of lace at her throat, and
into the jewelled clasp of her belt, Leo had fastened the exquisite
roses, noting the perfect harmony of her costume, as she smoothed the
folds of the sapphire velvet robe which she knew that Mr. Dunbar
particularly admired. The lofty, beautiful room was aglow with rich
color from oriental rugs strewn about the marble floor, from masses of
hyacinths and crimson camellias in stands, baskets, vases; from
brilliant tropical birds flitting to and fro; and through the gilt
wire vista of the aviary, the fountain in the peristyle beyond threw up
its silvery hands to arrest attention, and softly beat time to the
music of the gold and green canaries. The large white owl with wide,
prescient, berylline eyes, rose suddenly, and on slow wings circled
round and round, flying gradually to the ceiling of the dome, then
swooped back to its perch; and the Siberian hound, a huge, dun-hued
creature, lifted his head from the velvet rug and rubbed it against his
mistress' dress.
As the sound of a step she knew so well, rang in the vestibule, the
blood leaped to Leo's cheeks, but she walked quickly forward, and met
her visitor just beneath the "Salve" in the scroll of olives, putting
out her hands across the onyx table with its red and black bowl of
violets. Thus at arm's length, she held him a moment.
"I am very glad to see you; and I wish you a happy birthday, hoping
your new year may be as bright as the sun that ushers it in; and as
full of fragrance as these lovely roses, which I wear in honor of the
day."
Hand in hand, she smiled up into his handsome face, and certainly he
had never looked more kingly, more worthy of her homage.
"Thank you, dear Leo. The light and sweetness of my future can be
blotted out, only by losing you. You must be the fulfilment of your own
kind wishes."
He raised her left hand, kissed it lightly, and as she withdrew her
fingers and resumed her seat, in front of an ottoman ablaze with a
tangled mass of brilliant Berlin wool, he sat down at her side.
Ere she was aware of his intention, he pushed the ottoman beyond her
reach, and dexterously catching her hand, took the gold thimble from
her finger and dropped it into his vest pocket.
"Perish the fetich of needle-work, crochet and knitting! To-day at
least it shall not come between us;--and I claim your eyes, your
undivided attention. Now tell me how many of my rivals, how many
audacious suitors you have held at bay, by these gay Penelope webs
woven in my absence?"
"Has Ulysses the right to be curious? Should not memories of Calypso
incline him to unlock the fetters of Penelope?"
"Did she ever for one instant deem the silken cords she hugged to her
loyal, tender heart--fetters? Sweet, patient incarnation of
unquestioning fidelity, she stands the eternal antithesis of Mrs.
Caudle. From Kittie's letter, I inferred you were not well; but
certainly, my dear Leo, I never saw you look more lovely than to-day."
"Just now Kittie's perceptions are awry, dazzled by the rose light that
wrap? her world. Has Prince arrived?"
"Yes, he came yesterday, and my little sister is entirely and
overwhelmingly happy, for he is literally her Prince. Physically he is
much improved; has developed surprisingly, but has the shy, taciturn
manner of a student, and is, I fear, a hopeless bookworm."
"Why should his literary taste disquiet you? He went to Germany to
foster his scholarly inclination."
"Why? Why should a man apprentice himself to a carpenter, and become an
expert joiner, when he can never obtain the tools requisite to enable
him to work successfully? His aspirations run along the grooves of
science; and after dear little Kittie, his favorite Goddess is Biology.
Trained in the laboratory of a German scientist, where every imaginable
facility for researches in vivisection, and for the investigation of
certain biological problems was afforded him, he lands in America
empty-handed, and behold my carpenter minus tools."
"Having fitted himself for the profession, you surely will not attempt
now to discourage or dissuade him."
"The logic of impecuniosity will doubtless accomplish more than the
dissuasion of friends. Microscopic inspection of red and white
corpuscles, of virus, tissues, protoplasm and chlorophyl is probably
very interesting to lovers of microbes, and students of segmentation,
but such abstract pursuits appertain to purple and fine linen. A
profession means much; but ability to practise, infinitely more. Just
now the paramount problem is, how Prince can best make his bread. Six
months ago, he was prospectively so rich that he could indulge the whim
of blowing scientific soap-bubbles labelled with abstruse symbols; at
present, necessity directs his attention to paying his board bills."
"I thought a liberal allowance had been settled upon him, and ample
provision made for his future?"
"So there certainly was, on paper; but the destruction of the record
invalidated the gift."
"All the world knows that he has the rights of an adopted son."
"All the world knows equally well, that failing to produce the will,
Prince has lost his legacy, and must enlist in the army of
'bread-winners'."
"Then what becomes of 'Elm Bluff' and its fine estate?"
"They descend in the line decreed alike by law and nature, to the
nearest blood relation."
Leo felt the blood reddening her throat and cheeks, but under the quick
glance of her hazel eyes, his handsome face always en garde showed no
embarrassing consciousness. Fearful of silence, she said in a
perplexed, inconsequent tone:
"How manifestly unjust. Poor Kittie!"
"Why poor Kittie? Her beaming face is eloquent repudiation of your
pity, and she verily believes her blond-headed, scholarly Prince a
bountiful equivalent for all Croesus' belongings. Rich little Kittie!
After all, where genuine love reigns, worldly environment matters
comparatively little; love makes happiness, and happiness is the
reconciler."
A throb of pain shook the woman's heart as she realized the bitter
truth that he spoke from an experience born out of season: that he was
athirst for that which her fortune, her love, her own fair, graceful
self could never give him.
She looked at him, with an arch smile lighting her face, but he saw the
trembling of her lips, noted the metallic ring in her voice.
"'Et in Arcadia Ego?' Recent associations have rendered you idyllic. I
can recall a period when 'love in a cottage' was the target that
challenged the keenest arrows of your satire. Rich little Kittie has my
warmest congratulations. Will Prince remain in X--?"
"How can he? The demand here for amateur scientists is not sufficiently
encouraging; and I rather think he gravitates toward a college
professorship, which might at least supply him abundantly with rabbits,
turtles, frogs and guinea-pigs for biological manipulation and
experiment. One of the gay balloons floating through his mind, is a
series of lectures to be delivered in the large cities. Heredity is his
pet hobby, and he proposes to canter it under the saddle of Weismann's
theory (whatever that may be), expounding it to scientific Americans.
As yet no plans have crystallized. His allowance was paid
semi-annually, but of course it failed him last January, and no
alternative presents itself but some attempt to utilize his technical
lore. There is a vacancy in the faculty of C---University, and I shall
write at once to the board of trustees."
Like a moth, Leo flitted closer to the flame.
"Will he make no attempt to secure his rights?"
"He is too wise to waste his time in so fruitless an endeavor."
"Have you advised him to submit tamely to the deprivation of his
fortune?"
"He has not consulted me, but Wolverton, who is his cousin, convinced
him of the futility of any legal proceedings."
"Does General Darrington's granddaughter understand that Prince's
career will be ruined for want of the money to which he is entitled?"
"I am not acquainted with the views Gen'l Darrington's granddaughter
entertains concerning Prince, as I have not seen her since the trial
ended. Have you?"
Each looked steadily at the other, and under the gleam of his eyes,
hers fell, and her color flickered.
"I went once, but was denied admission. Even Sister Serena sees her no
longer. You doubtless know that she is recovering slowly from a severe
attack of illness."
"I have heard nothing since the night she was convicted and sentenced.
To-day I found a message at my office from Singleton, asking me to call
at my earliest convenience at the penitentiary, on a matter of legal
business. To what it refers, I know not, as I came immediately here."
There was a brief silence, in which his gaze mercilessly searched her
fair, proud face; then with a supreme effort she laid her hand suddenly
on his, and looked up smiling:
"I believe I was growing very impatient over your prolonged absence in
New Orleans. Time dragged dismally, and I was never more rejoiced than
when I received your last letter, and knew that I should see you
to-day. Lennox, I have set my heart on something, which only your
consent and acquiescence will secure to me. I am about to ask for a
mammoth sugar-plum that has dangled temptingly before my eyes for
nearly a year, and I shall enjoy it the more if you bestow it
graciously. Can you be generous and indulge my selfish whim?"
He felt a quiver in the cold fingers over which his warm hand closed,
saw the throbbing of the artery in her white throat, the ebbing of the
scarlet in lips that bravely held their coaxing, smiling curves, and he
knew that the crisis he had long foreseen was drawing near.
Leaning closer, he looked down into her brown eyes. The end must come;
but he would not precipitate it. Like Francis at Pavia, he acknowledged
to himself that all was lost, save honor.
"Whenever my Leo convinces me she can be selfish, I promise all that
she can possibly ask; but the selfishness must first be
incontrovertibly established."
He had never been dearer to her than at that moment, when his brilliant
eyes seemed to search her soul and magnetize her; yet she did not
falter and the aching of her heart was a goad to her will.
"You merely shower lesser sugar-plums, intending they shall surfeit.
Lennox, you know how often I have longed to make the journey to Greece,
Asia Minor and Egypt; you remember I have repeatedly expressed the
wish? You--"
"Pardon me, sweetheart, but this is the first time I ever heard it."
"You forget. At last the consummation unfolds itself as smoothly as the
fourth act of a melodrama. My friend and schoolmate, Alma Cutting, of
New York, invites a small party of ladies and gentlemen to accompany
her in a cruise through the Levant, on her father's new and elegant
steam yacht 'Cleopatra'. I have pressing letters from Alma and Mr.
Cutting, kindly urging me to join them in New York by the first of May,
at which time they expect to start on a preliminary cruise through the
North and Baltic seas; drifting southward so as to reach Sicily and
Malta as soon as cool weather permits. Do you wonder that so charming
and picturesque a tour tempts me sorely?"
Unconsciously she had hurried her enunciation, but imperturbable as the
bronze he resembled, Mr. Dunbar listened; merely passing his left arm
around her, drawing her resisting form closer to him, holding her
firmly.
"I am waiting for the selfish aspect of this scheme, else I should
answer at once, the coveted sugar-plum is yours, and we will make the
tour whenever you like, with the minor difference of mere details; we
will go in our own yacht."
She caught her breath, and for an instant the world swam in a burst of
dazzling light. Beyond the reach of the usurper's witchery, was it not
possible that she might regain the alienated heart? Love chanted, it
is worth the trial; take him away, win him back. Pride sternly set foot
upon this spark of hope, with cruel insistence answering: his love has
never been yours; defrauded of the diamond, will you accept and
patiently wear paste? The quick revulsion was tantalizing as would
have been the vanishing of the ram from Abraham's gladdened sight; the
swift withdrawal of Diana's stag into the miraculous cloud at Aulis.
"That would be too severe a tax upon your good nature and indulgence,
and involves a sacrifice of your professional plans, which I certainly
am not so intensely and monstrously selfish as to permit you to make. I
am so well aware of the reasons that necessitate your remaining in
America, in order to secure the appointment you are laboring to obtain,
that I refuse the sugar plum if bought with your disappointment."
"Selfishness not established; you must plead on some better ground.
Suppose that the happiness of the woman who has done me the honor to
promise me her hand, is just now my supreme aim, paramount to every
other ambitious scheme; and that to insure it, I hazard all else?
Remember the privilege of choice is mine."
It was the instinct not of affection, but of honor straining hard to
hold him to his allegiance, and her proud spirit thrilled under the
consciousness of his motive in striving to spare her. A crimson spot
burned on each cheek, a spark kindled in the soft, tender eyes. She
struggled to free herself, but his clasp tightened.
"Conceding the generosity that would impel you to immolate your
feelings, in order to gratify my willies, I decline the sacrifice. You
must indulge my desire to receive my sugar plum in the bonbonniere of
the 'Cleopatra'."
He pressed her sunny head against his shoulder, and rested his cheek on
hers.
"Is it my Leo's wish to leave me, to go alone?"
"Yes, to accompany Alma."
"For an absence of indefinite duration?"
"Certainly for a year; possibly longer; but you must be gracious in
yielding. If you really desire to promote my happiness, let me go
feeling that you consent freely."
He comprehended fully all that he was surrendering, the noble, pure,
devoted heart; the refining, elevating companionship, the control of a
liberal fortune, the proud distinction of calling her his wife; and yet
above the refrain of many mingled regrets, he felt an infinite relief
that he had been spared the responsibility of the estrangement.
"Whatever your happiness demands, I cannot refuse to concede, but you
can scarcely require me to receive 'graciously' the only construction I
can possibly place upon your request; that I am no longer an essential
element in your happiness."
Knowing that he owed her every possible reparation, he was resolved to
shield her womanly pride from any additional wounds. He withdrew his
encircling arm, released her hand, walked to the end of the aviary, and
stood watching the shimmer of the fountain, where two of the ring-doves
held their wings aslant to catch the spray. After some moments she
joined him, and laid her slender fingers on his arm.
"Dear Lennox, I propose at least a temporary change in our relations,
and even at the risk of incurring your displeasure, I prefer to be
perfectly frank. When you asked me to become your wife, neither of us
contemplated the long separation involved in this cruise abroad, which
I ardently desire for many reasons to make; and I am unwilling to
fetter either you or myself by an engagement during my absence. I want
to be entirely free, bound by no promise; and could I ask release,
unless you accepted yours?"
He put his palm under her chin, and lifted the sweet, pure face,
forcing her to return his gaze.
"Have I forfeited your confidence?"
"No. Lennox. I have an indestructible faith in your honor."
Her clear, truthful eyes assured him she acquitted him of all intention
to violate in any jot or tittle the forms of his allegiance.
"You deem me incapable of intentionally betraying your noble trust?"
"I do--indeed I do."
"My peerless Leo, have you ceased to love me?"
She shut her eyes an instant, and the delicate, flower face blanched;
the treacherous lips quivered:
"No."
"Who has supplanted me in your heart, for once I know it was all my
own?"
"Lennox, you are still more to me than all the world beside; but I ask
time, I must be free at present. Let me go away untrammelled; consider
yourself as unfettered, as before our engagement, and when the year
expires, if you deem me absolutely necessary to your happiness, you can
readily ask a renewal of your bonds, and I can be sure by that time
whether my happiness depends upon becoming your wife. After to-day I
shall not wear your ring; and if, while away, I send it back to you,
interpret it as a final decision that in the future we can only be very
faithful and attached friends. I have sadly mistaken your character if
you refuse me release from a compact which I now certainly desire to
cancel."
A shadow fell over his face, and he sighed heavily; but whether the
utterance of regret or relief she never knew.
"Your heart shall no longer be burdened by bonds which I can loosen.
Because your peace and happiness are more to me than my own, I grant
you complete release. When my ring affronts you with disagreeable
memories of a past, which will always be hallowed and precious to me,
as the one beautiful dream that brightened my youth, that crowned me
for a season at least with the trust and love of the noblest woman I
have ever known, do not return it; let it slip from the hand it made my
own, and find in the blue sea a grave as deep as the chasm--that you
will--shall divide our lives. I honor you too profoundly to question
your course; yet there is an explanation which I owe to myself as well
as to you. Leo, no man can ever be worthy to call you wife, but perhaps
I am less unworthy than you probably deem me? While in New Orleans, I
wrote a long letter, which I afterward decided not to send by mail. I
brought it to-day, intending to put it into your hand."
He took from the inside pocket of his coat, an envelope addressed to
her, broke the seal and pointed at the head of the sheet to the date,
some three weeks earlier. She surmised by that wonderful instinct which
God grants women as armor against the slow, ponderous aggressiveness of
man's tyranny, the nature of its contents. Had she merely anticipated
by an hour his petition for release? Even the bitterness of this
conjecture was neutralized by the testimony it bore to his integrity of
purpose, his unwillingness to conceal his disloyalty. When temples are
shattered and altars crumble, we save our idol and flee into the
wilderness, exulting in the assurance that no clay feet defile it.
Leo shook her head and gently put aside the proffered letter.
"You wrote it for the eyes of one who had pledged herself to bear your
name; the revocation of that promise annuls my right to read it."
Mr. Dunbar understood the apprehension that made her shiver slightly.
She was marching away proudly with flying colors, having dictated the
terms of his capitulation. Should he suffer the imputation of treachery
and intentional deception, rather than turn the tide of battle, trail
her banner in the dust, and add to her pain by mortally stabbing that
intense womanly pride which now swallowed up every emotion of her soul?
The more thoroughly chivalrous a man's nature, the keener his craving
for the honors of war.
"Because henceforth our paths diverge, I prefer to offer you my
exculpation, desiring amid the general wreck, to retain at least your
undiminished esteem. Will you read my confession?"
"No; that would entail the necessity of absolution, and I might not be
able to command the requisite amiability, should occasion demand it. We
have shaken hands with the past, and you owe me nothing now but pardon
for any pain I may have given you, and occasional kind thoughts when
the ocean divides us. I promise you my unwavering esteem; in exchange
grant me your cordial friendship."
She was growing strangely white, and her breath fluttered, but eyes and
lips came to the rescue with a steadfast smile.
"You allow me no alternative but submission to your will; yet remember,
dear Leo, that in surrendering your pledged faith, I hold myself as
free from any intentional forfeiture, as on the day you gave me your
promise."
"In token that I believe it, I salute and wear your roses."
She bent her head, touched with her lips the flowers at her throat, and
smiling bravely, held out both hands. He took them, joined the palms,
and kissed her softly, reverently on the forehead.
"God bless you, dear Leo. To have known so intimately a nature as noble
and exalted as yours, has left an indelible impression for good upon my
life, which must henceforth be very kinely. Good-bye."
With beat of drum, and blare of bugles, pride claimed the victory; but
as Leo watched the tall, fine form pass out from the beautiful home she
had fondly hoped to share with him, she clasped her hands across her
lips to stifle the cry that told how dearly she had bought the
semblance of triumph.
When the quick echo of his horse's hoofs died away, she went swiftly to
her writing desk.
"Dear Uncle: Please send the enclosed telegram to Mr. Cutting. I had a
sad but decisive interview with Mr. Dunbar, and after obtaining his
consent to my tour, we thought it best to annul our engagement. Tell
Aunt Patty, and spare me all questions. I have not been hasty, and I
asked to be released, because I have deemed it best to leave him
entirely free."
Sealing the note she rang for Justine.
"Take this to my uncle's study, and tell Andrew to bring my phaeton to
the door at four o'clock. Until then, see that no one disturbs me."
With averted face she held out the envelope, then the curtain fell; and
in solitude the aching heart went over the fatal field, silently
burying its slain hopes, realizing the bitterness of its Cadmean
victory.